Minnesota Boxing News: Tom Halstad

TOM HALSTAD: MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
AS TOP-NOTCH TRAINER
12.1.11

BY RAY KILGORE

When professional fighter Jeremy McLaurin agreed to fight Gary Eyer two months ago, the odds were against him. McLaurin, 30, was fighting at 126 pounds for the first time in his career, and this fight would be his first full eight-round distance. When he reported to camp, the boxer was 30 pounds heavier than normal. Many insiders questioned McLaurin’s logic, while others laughed at his expense. “After Eyer gives Jeremy that ass-whupping,” one figure in the sport said, “he’ll know what time it is.” Another chimed in, “126 pounds, are you kidding me?”

A week after McLaurin defeated Eyer by unanimous decision, he said, “I knew I was the underdog and no one gave me a chance. But I busted my butt to get in shape.” It was McLaurin who received the rave reviews and celebratory high-fives, but a little-known trainer by the name of Tom Halstad was the real mastermind behind the fighter’s victory. Halstad, 37, devoted hours, after his daily full-time construction job, to studying films, developing a nutritional plan and mentally preparing McLaurin for battle. Six months prior to the McLaurin-Eyer fight, another of Halstad’s fighters, 28-year-old Caleb Truax, showcased the best performance of his 18-0 career, when he lifted the State Middleweight title from Andy Kolle.

Halstad’s recent success has been a long time in the making. Halstad has become good at his profession through indirect and unorthodox ways. He was a self-taught boxing enthusiast with no amateur experience and who learned the characteristics of a good trainer by the failures, struggles and redemptions of his parents, Judy and Duane.

“I saw early on how my parents worked their butts off to keep what they had,” Halstad said. “Ever since I was young, my parents had always been like, ‘Learn from your mistakes.’ And they taught me to work hard.” His parents were forced to prove that they themselves understood what they had taught Halstad and his older sister, Angie, when greed and deceit almost put his father’s business in shambles. “We went from a Cadillac to a rusted Pinto overnight,” Halstad said, recalling the day that the family learned that Mr. Halstad’s business partner had pocketed tax money, which eventually led to the IRS auditing the business, and forcing Mr. Halstad to look for creative ways, without his partner, to keep the business going. “They didn’t want to lose the house--where they live to this day,” said Halstad, who tells the story of how Mrs. Halstad took three jobs--one of them requiring young Halstad and his sister to pitch in and help her--while Mr. Halstad maneuvered between different jobs to feed his family.

While Halstad’s parents didn’t have extra money, they saw how their son was falling in love with boxing (a passion that started after an eight-year-old Halstad watched a fight on TV at his uncle’s home), and for his 15th birthday, they bought him a heavy bag and boxing gloves. Halstad showed his gratitude by making good use of the equipment; he trained as if he had an upcoming fight, although that was far from the truth. After Halstad graduated from high school, he joined the Marine Corps for four years; when his stint was over, Halstad admits that he lived a ho-hum life until age 26, when he turned to boxing as a way to fill in the gap.

But this time, Halstad took his desire to the next level, when he located the phone number of Anoka Coon Rapids’ gym owner Ron Lyke and told him he wanted to box. Lyke invited an eager Halstad, who has now been with the gym for over eight years, to train in his garage, since the gym had not yet been established. Halstad worked hard, training for several months before his first Tough-Man contest—an experience that surprised him.

“I walked right through many of those guys,” Halstad said, while trying to avoid serious laughter. “These guys swung wildly, and all I had to do was keep my elbows in and drive right down the middle.” After several more Tough-Man fights, a then-27-year-old Halstad turned his preparations towards an amateur boxing career. As he trained, Halstad noticed a familiar pattern in the gym—which had by now been established.

“There were about 20 kids and two coaches,” Halstad said. “I started helping the kids when I was training and found that I liked to train.” As time went on, Halstad scrapped the ideal of competing and focused strictly on training. It was also around this time that Halstad, identified by the trademark reversed baseball cap that sits on his head, became known as a no-nonsense trainer, someone who once told a boxer with natural ability to pack his bags when the young boxer refused to show up for his first fight.

“He’s a bad-ass white boy,” said professional boxer Charles Meier, who is trained by Halstad. “What I like is that he’s methodical and knows how to talk to me. I’ve had some trainers try to tell me things, and I say: ‘I don’t understand you. What are you telling me!?' With Tom, that’s not the case.”

In 2010, Meier boxed a six-round shootout against Corey Rodriguez. In between one round, Halstad was seen pulling a paper from his pocket and holding it in front of Meier when Meier seemed to lose some focus. Halstad later admitted that the mystery paper was a clipping of an interview Rodriguez had done before the fight, expressing confidence in a victory and describing what he planned to do with Meier.

“I try to keep my cool as much as possible in the corner,” said Halstad. “But sometimes you have to push the fighter. I am not swearing, but you gotta be mentally focused; if you're not, you shouldn’t be in there.”
Halstad has a conviction that lazy fighters have no business in the sport. He also has little tolerance for boxers who deviate from the game plan. McLaurin briefly did this against Eyer, who dropped his hands and stuck out his chin, teasing McLaurin; McLaurin returned the gestures when Halstad was heard yelling, “No! Focus and discipline. I tell my fighters, ‘I don’t want to see you laying on the canvas with your eyes rolling in the back of your head because you did something stupid. Your family and friends are sitting out there.’ ”

He’s cautious when taking on a new boxer. “I think he was trying to feel me out and see what I was about,” said Meier before he and Halstad teamed up. “He sat back and watched for a long time to see if I was for real.” While it is common practice for trainers to brag about how they took so-and-so to this level, Halstad’s fighters have had some success with combined records of 32 wins, against four defeats, two draws and 17KOs.

And while training provides a coach with intrinsic rewards, the teeth-grinding experience of a fighter who refuses to take the advice of the trainer is difficult for many. “I have no problem telling my fighter if I think a fight is bad for him or if he is not ready,” said Halstad. “But in the end, the fighter is the boss.” And while a trainer might disagree, their job, said Halstad, is to behave professionally, regardless. “I put my time in. I can’t half-ass it. I have to be there every step of the way with my fighter.”

Although Halstad, who is in the process of completing a personal training certificate and hopes it will lead to full-time work down the road, might come across as a roughed it trainer, outside of this role, he is a dedicated husband to his wife Jamie of 10 years, a friendly man with many opinions on different topics, and he isn’t afraid to express what his boxers mean to him.

“Seeing my fighters with their hands raised and accomplishing their goals is most rewarding. I feel blessed by God to have the fighters that I have,” he said. “They are good people in and out of the ring.” And Halstad appears to be good for Minnesota boxing, both as a trainer and as an individual, for the honor he brings to the sport.

If you are interested in Sports Betting, odds, and expert picks, please check out the site links below!!

Sports Betting Champ
Doc's Sports Blog
Sports Betting Strategy
Sports Handicapping Experts
Sports Book Rules